Maximum Credits

Accredited Provider

This CME-certified enduring activity is jointly provided by

Commercial Supporter

Support for this activity has been provided through an educational grant from AstraZeneca.

Program Description

The FDA’s approval of several new tailored biologic therapies offers promise to a subset of patients with severe asthma, though identifying the asthma phenotypes (ie, eosinophilic and noneosinophilic) for which these new agents are most appropriate remains a key factor of their successful use.

This CME e-learning Virtual Practice activity provides three modules that discuss the effective use of the newest biologic drugs and address key aspects of successfully assessing and treating patients with severe asthma.

To complete the Virtual Practice, review all content in the Exam Rooms and the Main Conference Room; each room (module) confronts you with challenging clinical scenarios involving patients with severe asthma, similar to those you are likely to encounter in your own practice.

Main Conference Room (Clinical Callout): Here you’ll find four patient vignettes that end at a critical clinical decision point. Your challenge: assess the symptoms, risk factors, and medical histories and choose the most appropriate next step from several possible clinical strategies. But be careful: only one option reflects current best practice!

Exam Room 1: Margaret Thomas, 40, has had asthma for 10 years, but her symptoms have worsened recently and she has experienced two serious exacerbations. Was it a change in her medications? Is it related to her allergies?

Exam Room 2: Al Carter, 55, was first diagnosed with asthma 15 years ago. In the last 3 months, his asthma has been uncontrolled despite the use of oral corticosteroids, and he was hospitalized. Are adjustments needed to Al’s regimen? If so, what are they?

Intended Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of allergists, immunologists, pulmonologists, and primary care providers—including nurse practitioners and physician assistants—who are involved in the treatment of patients with severe asthma.

Educational Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

Discuss the two main types of severe asthma and the treatment implications of each

Outline a personalized treatment plan, using targeted biologic therapies, to achieve and maintain control for patients with severe asthma based on underlying phenotype

Demonstrate how incorporating patient education and communication strategies can improve medication adherence and asthma control

Conflict Of Interest Disclosure Policy

According to the disclosure policy of RBHS and to conform with Joint Accreditation requirements and FDA guidelines, individuals who are in a position to control the content of this educational activity are required to disclose to activity participants the existence of any relevant relationships with any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients, with the exemption of nonprofit or government organizations and non-health care related companies, within the past 12 months. The existence of these interests or relationships is not viewed as implying bias or decreasing the value of the presentation.

Credit

1.50

Type

AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM

Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and RedMedEd. Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the health care team.

Designation Statement

Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.50 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM . Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Peer Review

To help ensure content objectivity, independence, and fair balance, and to ensure that the content is aligned with the interest of the public, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) has resolved all potential and real conflicts of interest through content review by a non-conflicted, qualified reviewer. This activity was peer-reviewed for relevance, accuracy of content, and balance of presentation by:

This activity was pilot-tested for time required for participation by Peter Rattner, DO and Jennifer Williams, MD.

Disclosure of Unlabled Use

This educational activity contains discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the US Food and Drug Administration. RBHS and RedMedEd do not recommend the use of any agent outside the labeled indications.

Disclaimer

The information presented in this activity is for continuing medical education purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician regarding diagnosis and treatment of a specific patient’s medical condition.

The opinions expressed in this educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of any manufacturer of pharmaceuticals or devices, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences, or RedMedEd. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Instructions

Clicking "START ACTIVITY" will send you away from myCME to our partner site, RedMedEd. Full accreditation/designation and disclosure information will be provided on the RedMedEd site.

There are no fees to participate in the activity. Participants must review all activity information, including the learning objectives, disclosure statements, and content. To receive CME credit for participation, participants must complete the post-tests (achieving a passing grade of 80% or greater) and program evaluation. Certificates can be printed immediately and will not be stored in your myCME CME History.

For technical questions related to this activity, please contact RedMedEd at (610) 251-6841 or info@redmeded.com.

For questions regarding the activity content, or CME-related questions or concerns, contact RBHS at (973) 972-4267 or ccoe@ca.rutgers.edu.

Privacy Policy

This website is managed by RedMedEd, and RedMedEd’s printed privacy policy applies to this site. CME credit for this activity is provided by RBHS. If you register for CME credit for this educational activity, RedMedEd will forward relevant personally identifiable information to RBHS so that records can be maintained concerning any credits issued to you. Aggregated data concerning registrations, posttests, and evaluations may be shared, but RedMedEd will not knowingly share any personally identifiable information. RBHS may use the information you provide on this site to contact you about your CME credit or other relevant educational activities provided through RBHS. To review RBHS’ CE privacy policy, click here.